PerserverenceBy Jackson Walsh

Jackson Walsh 2-23-17 Ms. Anzaldi Narrative

Seventh Grade was going great for me, it was my best academic year so far and I had many friends. I was starting to expand my friend group and doing more things like going to the movies, having sleep overs, playing pick up basketball or just hanging out. I was on the baseball and basketball team that year and was excelling in both sports. That year I really began to focus on getting my homework done on time and spending extra time studying to get my grades up. It worked! My grades gradually improved, and life was great.

One day in class my teacher assigned a project that was due in one week. We were assigned our partners and I had no problem with mine. We weren’t that close, but we were friends. I knew my topic and I was focused on earning a solid grade. I assumed my friend was thinking the same thing. We agreed to split up our work, and I planned to chip away at it starting that night. My partner said he had a game and would start in the next day or two. I minded my own business for the time being and focused on my part, not at all concerned about his part of the project.

On Wednesday, with five days until the deadline, I had roughly half of my part done. I was surprised to see that my partner had yet to start his portion. I didn't have any other classes with him, so I had to wait to see him in class to find out what was going on. When I asked my friend when he was going to start his research he simply said " Chill, I got this, I've been busy." Friday rolled around, I checked again, still nothing. My stomach churned with a queasy feeling. I had worked hard on my part and felt confident that we would earn a four. I saw him later that day, he said he was focused on a test and completely forgot about the assignment. He promised to do the work over the weekend. I trusted him. As always, the weekend came and went in a flash. Sunday night I did a final review and edit of my section, and eagerly scrolled to see what he had done. I was shocked to see nothing but a blank page and cursor staring back at me. I quickly went to my email account to email him and noticed an email from him, sent moments ago. I was in disbelief as I read that he was sick and was unable to do any work.

I thought about my options and I decided to take matters into my own hands. That night I worked until 11 pm, completing the presentation. We had the class first thing on Monday. I saw my partner, and he looked like he was at a funeral as we got up to present. I was up first and as I stood next to him, I could see him out of the corner of my eye nervously tapping his foot and playing with his pen, violently clicking it over and over. As my part ended and the slide changed, I watched in anticipation as he looked astonished at his completed portion.

We got our grades right after the presentation, we got all 4’s. I can still easily remember how many times he thanked me and how grateful he was to me. Two things came out of this. For him, it was a lesson learned about procrastination. For me, this was a time when I sacrificed, I went above and beyond what I was supposed to do, but more importantly, I helped someone out. This was the time that I made a sacrifice to help another succeed.